I Belong To You
by winter-willow
Summary: revamped versionsometimes it just takes a leap of faith to know where you belong. hgdm gwbz
1. Chapter 1 The Weasley Secret

**Author's Note:**

Alright Ladies and Gentlemen...I promised to put up the new version with all the corrections and such after book six had come out and I had read it and decided whether or not to follow through and make it compatible. I'm afraid that with how I have this particular story written it will not be able to mesh properly with book six which I am proud to say I managed to read in less than six hours because my husband took off work sick so I could lay in bed and read rather than chase after our ten month old daughter. This story might take a bit for me to finish because now I am dealing with not only our now one year old daughter but our newborn son. Sorry. But anyways, I promised the new version whether it flowed with book six or not so here it is...**it does NOT flow with book six**. Sorry.

If you want to read the story that I have been obsessed with that DOES flow with book six then you need to read my new story Crimson. It is the first of a two-parter. The first story is Crimson and the second will be Emerald. Both will tell the same story but from two very different sides so when you read them both you get the full story that otherwise you wouldn't know. I might write another story that follows after them to tell the story of the main character, Abby, you'll understand if you read them, but I am not quite sure about it and if I do it probably will take awhile. Our computer is without internet so I have to use my mother-in-law's and she has this pop-up ad blocker that sometimes blocks me from uploading onto chapter that I upload for this story and all my other stories from now on will be at least ten pages in WordPerfect12 so be prepared and since you are fore-warned please do not tell me that the chapters are too long for you to read. If you only have a certain amount of time to be online either print out the chapter or download it to disk. However, as I have said before, **DO NOT STEAL my work. **I will take the time out of my day to track you down and do everything I can to either get you kicked off this website or have your own website taken down for copyright infringement. Got that? Good. Now enjoy the story.

**Chapter 1.** The Weasley Secret

"She should know Arthur. It's her blood right; her history."

"No Molly, no, she's too young."

"She's 16 about to turn 17 this yuletide."

"She shouldn't be told. Keep it quiet and out of mind. Just be thankful that she came out looking like you and not like that bastard."

"He wants her to know Arthur. He wants to know her. He wants his son to know her. And I want her to know that she has other family. I'm tired of keeping this secret."

"We are her family Molly and just because you opened your legs for Lucius Malfoy one night does not mean that he should get a say in anything around here. I don't care if he's really her father or not. This is my home, and you are my wife, and dammit she does not need to know and you will not tell herཀ GOOD NIGHT!"

The loud and angry voices receded into the darkness as they moved into the living room but in the kitchen a red-headed teen quietly made her way to the side of the connecting living room door so that she could hear better.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here. Oh Molly, dear, since we seem to be repeating the past here, should a silver-headed git come through that fireplace to comfort you how about you try keeping your legs closed so I don't end up taking care of another kid that isn't mine."

Her mother's sobs grew louder as the sound of a slamming door reverberated throughout the house and then all that could be heard was the soft sounds of the woman's weeping as she made her way to her bedroom, alone, not noticing her daughter's still form at the kitchen table. For Molly Weasley the horrible night had ended but for her daughter, Ginny, the night had just begun. She glanced up at the odd clock on the wall and watched as the spoon holding the face of the man she had thought of as her father slowly move from home to traveling.

Her brow furrowed Ginny sat back down at the kitchen table and picked up the fork in order to finish the slice of apple pie she had been about to pilfer from the dessert rack for the next day's dinner party. She replayed what she had heard over and over in her head and still no matter how many times she thought about it none of it made any sense. The Weasley adults didn't have problems. They never fought. They didn't even really lift their voices to each other.

Or at least they didn't anymore Ginny thought as a vague memory from when she was younger drifted to the front of her memory. She had been three and they were out at Diagon Alley getting Charlie his new books for school when she had tripped over a small pile of books that she hadn't even seen and a pair of strong arms had caught her and picked her up. Her bright blue eyes had met the most electric pair of blue eyes she had ever seen before in her life. A boy about her age that looked like a small miniature of the man holding her came over holding a toy broomstick. He smiled but before he could say anything her father had come and plucked her out of the blonde man's arms and said something to him that had made the smile on her angel's face disappear and turn to stone. Not two minutes later she and her mother had flooed back to the Burrow and left her father and brothers to shop.

Turning away from the slice of dutch apple she walked into the living room and picked one of the memory books off the shelf behind the sofa. Sitting down she began to leaf through the pages not quite sure of what she was looking for but knowing that she would recognize it when she saw it. Flipping through the pages she watched as Bill, Charlie, Percy and then the twins and Ron each had their picture with their magic pre-school class taken. She smiled in anticipation as she looked at the next page expecting to see herself and her class but instead finding a faded square where the picture had once been. Frowning she got up and pulled the memory book of herself off the shelf behind her and began to flip through the pages. The more blank squares she saw the angrier she got. Why were there pictures missing? Who would take them? What harm could they have done?

Biting her lip Ginny sifted through the argument she had overheard her parents having. Malfoy. If Lucius Malfoy really was her father then surely she would look something like him. Wouldn't she? But she didn't, she thought as her gaze shifted over to the portrait of the family across the room from her. Same red hair as her mother. Same nose and ears. Granted she was a bit paler than her brothers but that was because she stayed indoors more often. The sun tended to just make her skin burn and peel. But she didn't look any different. She had both the Weasley tale-tell traits. Bright red hair and deep blue eyes. Ginny held in her gasp. Her eyes. They weren't the same as her mom's. They were the same wide shape but the coloring was off. In fact the blue of her eyes was several shades lighter than all of her brothers'. It wasn't really noticeable unless you really looked but swallowing the lump in her throat Ginny knew instinctively that should she compare them to the blue of Lucius Malfoy she would find an exact match. Letting the memory book fall from her dead fingers Ginny backed out of the room and headed towards the back of the house.

Slowly the red-head made her way up the spiraling staircase towards her room. She opened the door as if in a daze and fell face first onto her bed. Thoughts flew through her mind at an astounding speed. The only one that really stuck was the one that caused her to begin to giggle. Her father had almost killed her. Well, not intentionally. Well, maybe. Soon her giggles turned into laughter and she was gripping her stomach from the spasms that were assailing her abdomen. She didn't even notice when the door opened slightly and three pairs of eyes watched in confusion as she continued to laugh hysterically.

Hours later she fell into an exhausted sleep unaware of the quiet conversation that was occurring only two doors down the twisted hallway.

"So what do you gather that's all about?" Ron asked his older brothers as they slowly went over their store ledgers for the past week.

"Don't know."

"Maybe she finally cracked."

"It's happened to plenty of Hogwarts students as they enter their sixth year."

Fred glanced up for a moment. "But I must admit I did rather fancy it would be you instead of her."

"Yea," George agreed looking up. "No offense little bro but at least she studies before the day of the test."

"But why were the memory books strewn all about the living room like that?" Ron asked his face contorting as he tried to figure it out.

Fred shook his head. "Don't know, maybe she got bored."

"Maybe mom and dad didn't take as many pictures of her as they did of us. After all we are the perfect two in the family you know."

Ron shook his head, there was no way he was going to get any help out of these two. He'd ask Harry. Maybe he'd have an idea.

Fred offered one last piece of advice as he turned back to the rows of numbers he was calculating. "Harry will be here tomorrow for the rest of the summer. Get him to ask her. You know she has always had a thing for him. Maybe she'll tell him."

Ron nodded and thinking happily of all the quidditch matches with his best mate that were merely a day away he headed out the door and up to his mess of a room.

Morning broke only a few hours later and as usual the group of kids woke to the smell of frying bacon and sausage and to pancakes on the griddle. Stumbling downstairs the lot of young red-heads managed to make it to their chairs at the long table just as a jet-black haired boy entered through the back door.

"Morning Harry." The twins chorused as they used a spell to pour him a glass of juice and managed to spill the rest of the pitcher on the table. If no one else noticed that no rebuke followed as Molly cleaned up the mess it really wasn't a surprise.

Ginny, however, glanced up and watched as her mother went back to the stove and stirred the pancake batter. Her mother hadn't slept all night if the dark circles under her eyes were any indication. Good, Ginny thought harshly. Why should a liar be able to sleep at night?

As she continued to watch her mum with a look of thinly veiled contempt, Ginny noticed that she kept looking over to the clock. Looking over at first she thought everything was as it should be. There, on Home, were her, Ron, the twins, and mum. Charlie, Bill, and Percy were each on Work just like they were supposed to be. But, Ginny followed the longest spoon up to the picture of Arthur Weasley who was still sitting under the heading of Traveling. Biting her bottom lip she looked back at her mum and the drawn expression on her face and fought back the instinct to go and comfort her. Getting up from the table Ginny walked out of the room leaving her practically full plate on the table.

"Well that was rude." Fred said as he speared the sausages off the plate his little sister had left behind.

"Very." George agreed as he plucked away the remaining slice of bacon.

Harry looked at Ron and Ron forked more food in his mouth as he gave him a look that read 'Later'.

As all the boys were concentrating on gobbling up the rest of the food on the table they completely missed the guilty and sad look that their mother sent towards the retreating figure of Ginny's back.

Slamming her door closed Ginny looked around her room in confusion and anger. Why should she feel sad for that woman? She lied to her. Her entire life she lied to her. Her father had tried to instill a hatred towards the Malfoys in her ever since she had first met them and her mother had not said one word otherwise. But still, Ginny reflected, last night her mum and argued in her defense. She'd wanted to tell. But did she want to tell her so she'd know, Ginny asked herself, or to appease her guilty conscience? Sitting down on her bed the red-head was inclined to believe the latter based on the information she had at hand.

She needed more information. She needed truths. Instinctively she knew she needed the pictures. She was never going to get that kind of information here. Deciding to busy herself with normal things until she could figure out where exactly she needed to go the red-head pulled out her Transfiguration book and began to outline the chapters like her friend Hermione had taught her to.

By the time she had reached the eleventh chapter she knew where to go. Hogwarts Library. It would have the answers she sought. But how to get there? She knew for a fact after the last few years that it was not connected to the floo network. No one could apparate onto school grounds. The train wouldn't take anyone there except for students on the first of September. What to do? Now Hogsmede Ginny knew was connected to the floo network. And she did know her way from there to Hogwarts.

Making up her mind Ginny grabbed her personal stash of floo powder along with her broom and crept down the stairs. Listening carefully from the empty living room she realized that her mum was in the kitchen doing dishes and the boys were all outside playing a small quidditch match. Walking confidently over to the fireplace she threw in the powder and watched the green flames rise. Stepping into the flames she made her destination known. "The Three Broomsticks." She disappeared with a flash into the flames not noticing the red-headed middle-aged man dragging himself through the front door looking as though he had spent the night in a seedy pub.

As she stepped out of the fireplace and dusted the remaining green powder off her jeans and t-shirt she wondered exactly how she was supposed to get into the school let alone the library when the entire place was closed for the summer. Glancing around the room she saw only unfamiliar faces seated at the tables and Madame Rosmerta up at the bar. Deciding to at least have a drink while she figured out the next step in her plans she ordered a butterbeer as she took a seat at the bar. She watched as Rosmerta filled a clean glass with the foamy drink and handed it to her.

"Thank you."

"No problem. You mind if I ask you why you're here?" The curvaceous woman asked. "We don't usually get that many students up here during the summertime."

"That's alright." Ginny said her mind racing to find a suitable lie as she smiled brightly at the woman. "I have a summer project due for my Transfiguration class but I wasn't quite finding enough information on my topic in the books I have and I was hoping perhaps someone at the castle would allow me some time in the library to find what I need." Not quite a lie, Ginny thought, but not the truth either. Somewhere in the middle in that despondent shade of gray.

"Well that should be no problem dear. Professor Snape is upstairs right now reading a missive that came from the Headmaster. He should be back down in a moment. I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking you to the library so you can finish your assignment."

If Ginny's smile became a little fake at the mention of Professor Snape's name the bar owner didn't notice and she continued chatting on about all the gossip she read about in Witch Weekly. When a door slammed above and footsteps were heard on the stairs the bubbly woman walked over to the bottom of the stairs and waited until a robed figure came down. After exchanging a few words with the barkeep the figure walked over took Ginny by the arm and pulled her out of the tavern barely giving her enough time to pull out a few knuts from her coin purse to throw onto the bar from the door leading to the street. After being dragged a few hundred feet Ginny dug her heels in and forced the man holding her to stop.

"No offense Professor but my arm is about to be pulled out of its socket."

"Well then perhaps you would like to explain why you have a phony excuse about needing to get into the castle during the summertime?" the wizard said as he turned around to face her. "I don't have time to go escorting lying students around. I have more important things to do." Sneering the man started to stalk off in the direction of the road that led to the castle.

"Wait. Please wait." Ginny shouted as she followed after him. As he continued to get farther and farther away from her something in Ginny snapped. "Fine then, see if I care! Next time I see Lucius Malfoy I will be sure to inform him of exactly who you are!"

Stopping dead in his tracks the wizard turned around and looked at her as if she were a bug beneath his shoe. "And what makes you think that he will listen to you, you silly little girl?"

Walking up the hill until she could see his eyes she laughed. "Isn't that what fathers' do? Listen to their children."

His mouth open to deliver a scathing retort the dark haired man stopped as he saw the coldness in her direct blue gaze. A coldness that he'd only seen in one other person's eyes before. "Fine then. Miss Malfoy. Tell the truth. Why do you need the library?"

Ginny met his gaze, beat for beat. "I do believe you know. There are gaps in my own history that I need to fill. The library holds the books I need to find that information."

"Fine." Snape said as he turned back towards the castle. "But hurry up. I have other things to attend to."

Not another word was spoken all the way up to the castle where Snape merely dropped her off in the entryway as he headed toward the dungeons. Contemplating the question in her mind of whether or not the greasy-headed Potions Master might contact the elder Malfoy before she was ready Ginny decided it wasn't worth wondering about until she had filled the gaps on her own.

Walking quickly she made good time to the library where she strode past the empty front desk and headed straight to the history section. It took her a second to find the book she required, for as it did have a name, the pages on the inside were blank. Getting out an quill she wrote two names in the book, one on each page. Lucius Malfoy and Molly Bennett. A gold thread appeared next to Molly's name and linked it to the script of Arthur Weasley. Dropping between the two the names Bill, Charlie, Percy, George and Fred appeared. She watched as slowly a name appeared linked with a gold thread to the first name. Narcissa Black. A gold line appeared drawing down from the two of them the name of Draco Malfoy. Then back on the other page the name of Ronald was written. The threads all ended and a silver thread suddenly appeared linking the names of Lucius and Molly and weaved its way down the page underneath all the other names and there looped out the name of Virginia.

Ginny nodded. At least the book was honest. She stared at the two pages wondering at the two thin gold threads that fell next to Draco's name between Lucius and Narcissa and yet never went on to script a name. They just stopped. Her brow furrowed as she thought of what that could mean. Trying to figure out if they would change if she did just a Malfoy line search she swept the feather of her quill down the side with the Weasley names on it and watched as more names twined out of the Malfoy line. She watched as Narcissa's line eventually found its way to the Black's line and the Malfoy line reached all the way back to Rowena Ravenclaw. And yet still the two threads appeared under Narcissa's name. Other sets of empty threads connected to other Malfoy pairs including Lucius Malfoy's own parents. What did those empty threads mean?

Ginny shivered uncontrollably as a cold draft swept in through the open window across the way. Getting up she strode over and pulled the door shut against the once warm breeze and locked it with the bar on the side of the window. As she locked it she watched as a figure in a deep purple cloak came out of the Forbidden Forest and skirted the edge of the lake and disappeared around the side of the castle. She was so busy staring out the window that she forgot about the book until she turned back to the table.

Without glancing at it again she closed the damning book without ever noticing the silver thread that ran down from one of Lucius's great-aunts to a female child to a male child named Tom to a female child born two years before her. Walking back to where she got it she placed the book on the shelf and skipped a few rows over not noticing the book turning into mist and leaving an empty space on the row. Her fingers skimmed the books along the row she needed searching for the right year. Finally she found it. The yearbook for the Sorcerers' Preschool the year she attended. The year missing from the memory books at the Burrow.

Opening the page to the class picture she saw what she had suspected all along. There she was waving out of the picture with a bleach blonde boy next to her and her older brother Ron on the other side of her sneering at the boy on her left. She could easily recognize plenty of her peers here at Hogwarts in the picture as well. She flipped through the pages seeing herself in plenty of the pictures. And she saw why the pictures were no longer in the books back at home. In almost every other picture of her the young Draco Malfoy was beside her laughing and playing. Ginny slammed the book closed and replaced it on the shelf.

Now she knew. All the holes were filled. The only question was now that she knew what would she do? Ginny snorted as the fading light filtered through the window. It was rather obvious that no one else knew and that her 'dad' was tired of having her around and didn't want to have to look at her. But it wasn't as if she could just leave. She didn't have any money of her own. Lucius Malfoy was in Azkaban after what had happened a few years ago. Granted it was guarded by aururs now and not the dementors, but still, he was in prison and she doubted his wife would just open the doors to the result of her husband's illicit affair. Besides, they were dark wizards and she didn't associate with that kind. Did she?

Ginny closed her eyes, hoping an answer would just pop out of nowhere, but it didn't. When she opened her eyes the room was hardly visible, the light from outdoors was fading fast as the night came on. She should head back and yet, she didn't want to. Something held her from getting up from her chair. Gathering up her willpower she stared out the window and watched transfixed as the figure in purple robes she had seen earlier slip back into the forest. She walked over and stood at the window as the purple robes weaved in and out of the trees until the figure was out of sight.

Gazing at the forest Ginny felt herself get lightheaded and before long her vision started to blur at the edges until suddenly she was assaulted by an image of a clearing in the woods and a scream cut short and a werewolf howling towards the moon with blood on it's muzzle and a figure in a purple robe laying unmoving on the ground by a pool of water with the moon's reflection. A hand on her shoulder dragged her back to the present and as her vision started to clear Ginny found herself on the ground with her Potions Master hovering over her.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a strange look on his face as if he was attempting to express some sort of concern.

Still woozy from the assault on her senses Ginny answered the only way she could. "No."

Getting to her feet Ginny glanced back out the window and knew instinctively that her little daydream had not just been a dream of an overworked mind. Somewhere in those woods a woman lay either dying or dead. And a werewolf was to blame. She undid the lock she had so recently made sure of and opened the window. Picking up her cloak from the back of the chair she had been sitting in earlier she asked a question of her teacher, that before that day, she would have never dared ask.

"Where is Lupin tonight?"

If he thought her question odd he did not let on he merely cocked his head slightly to the side. "On business for the Order why?"

She turned and looked him straight in the eyes. "It's a full moon and I heard a werewolf howl rather close by." At the small flicker in his eyes she continued as she turned towards the door where she had left her broom. "I hope the woman died for something important. For life to be wasted trivially in that manner would be cruel and inhumane. Even in the middle of a war." She did not wait to see her teacher's reaction to her words but merely climbed on her broom and flew out the window towards her temporary home.

Even in the wizarding world coming home past midnight was not acceptable. And so when she arrived at a quarter to two and began to walk through the living room to the kitchen for a piece of bread before she went to bed Ginny was not surprised to find her so-called parents sitting at the kitchen table waiting for her. Or a few of the boys' shadows sneaking around outside the halfway opened window.

"Where have you been?" Her mum asked her in a firm voice.

"Nowhere." Ginny said as she snatched a roll from a basket on a shelf.

"Do not lie to me young lady. I am your father." Arthur Weasley began as he clenched his fingers into a fist.

Ginny interrupted him staring straight into his eyes. "Bull-Shit."

Two pairs of wide eyes watched through the window as Molly Weasley gasped and put her hand up to her mouth and Arthur Weasley started to turn as red as his hair.

"Now see here. You just can't go around talking like that." he began before she interrupted him once again.

"No. No more lies. If you can't say something honest then don't say anything at all. I'll be gone in the morning. Don't worry. I won't take anything of yours." Ginny said disgusted as she grabbed another roll and headed back through the living room to the stairs.

Outside Fred and George stared at each other wide-eyed as they heard their mother burst into noisy sobs that soon became interrupted with hiccups as their father began to yell at her about some kind of secret. Unable to make up their minds about whether or not they should make their presence known the twins crouched outside the window unable to move until the sound of a resounding slap shocked them into moving. Bursting into the kitchen they found their mother on the floor, her chair overturned, and their father gone. Together they carried their unconscious mother to her bed and placed a cold rag on the bruise that was beginning to appear across her left cheek. Neither said a word as they went ahead and cleaned up the kitchen and house and finally dragged a pair of chairs into their mother's bedroom and fell asleep there at her side. Neither even realized the next morning that during that entire time neither one of them had uttered a single spell. They had done everything themselves by hand as if they were asking for forgiveness from their mother in the only way they knew how. By doing the few things she had always asked them to. To do for themselves and not become lazy with their magic by becoming a slave to it.

Upstairs Ginny opened the door to her bedroom fuming and her attitude did not get any better as her eyes fell upon the two figures who were using magic to copy her work from the summer.

"What are you doing?" she asked barely restraining the magic she felt sparking from her fingertips.

"Oh, borrowing your potions work. You know we aren't as good as you." Ron said without looking up as he copied her work on the wolfsbane potion.

Harry next to him, copying what appeared to be her Herbology work, looked up. "We figured you wouldn't mind."

"Yea, well I do mind. It's called cheating. Maybe if you stopped playing so much quidditch you could get some of your own work done. It's time to stop depending on others and do for yourself okay? Now get out of my room."

Harry stood up slowly Ron beside him. "Are you serious?"

"What is wrong with you Ginny?" Ron asked rudely. "You've been acting weird and snobby the past couple of days."

"You don't really care!" She screamed at him. "Now get out!"

Harry walked out of the room staring at her in disbelief with Ron following behind after he finished gathering up the work they had been copying.

"Are you deaf Ronald? I said no cheating. And that means you aren't supposed to take those." Ginny said as she lit the offending papers on fire with a wave of her wand. Her brother dropped the papers and tried to put the flames out with a spell of his own but ended up freezing Harry's legs in a blizzard spell instead. Laughing Ginny went to close the door only to have her so-called brother punch her in the mouth.

She lifted her eyes to his gloating ones in a deadly glare and spit out a mouthful of blood before muttering a spell that had him fall on the ground clutching his face in agony. "Never ever touch me again Ronald Weasley or I will give you more than that to remember me by."

Closing her door Ginny put a spell on it so that it wouldn't open for any reason or any person for the next two months until the morning of September first. Getting out the cell phone that Hermione had gotten her for her birthday the year before she called up Bill's girlfriend Fleur. After a short conversation Ginny had achieved her goal. A position as an assistant at Fleur's father's muggle law firm for the next two months until school started and Fleur was letting Ginny sublease her apartment in France while she worked there.

Gathering up her clothes she folded them and placed them into her school trunk on top of all her supplies for the next year. Knowing that she wouldn't be coming back anytime soon, if ever, Ginny glanced around the room looking for anything that caught her eye or heart. Her eyes alighted on a picture of her at the age of four learning how to bake cookies with her mum. Blinking back the lone tear that threatened to fall Ginny picked up the picture and placed it on the top of the pile in the trunk before she closed it.

Placing the lock and shrink charm on the trunk she placed it in the pocket of the cloak she threw on and opening her window she flew out and then hovered outside for a few moments in midair while she performed the two month lock on the window as well. Flying off in the direction of Paris Ginny ignored the light rain that fell down upon her and refused to look back knowing that if she did somehow she would regret it.

For the next two months she fell into a routine of going to work, paying the bills, and saving as much money as she could. She buried the memory of her call to Fleur in the back of the other girl's mind obscuring it as much as she could. She contacted no one, not even Hermione, knowing that if she did there could be dire consequences. So she locked up her wand and experienced, for the first time, life as a muggle. Only one shock of the wizarding world intruded upon her solitude and that was a new hit sensation that was being played on the radio all day and night. Eventually the shock of the music wore off and she learned to enjoy it until the morning of September first when she packed up her things and sent the key back to Fleur, via a post owl, and headed back in the direction of London to board the train for Hogwarts.

...**Continued in Chapter 2.**


	2. Chapter 2 No More Lies

**Chapter 2.** No More Lies

The sound of a plate crashing into the kitchen wall downstairs and splintering into a million pieces woke Hermione with a start. As she sat up and wiped the sleep form her eyes she listened to the shouting below. It was nothing new really, her mom and dad were always fighting, well at least they had been fighting ever since she'd been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All the fights were about her and magic.

Her father hated the wizarding world. He put on an act each year they went to Diagon Alley to buy her school supplies and he let her communicate with Ginny and receive the newspaper but he never wanted to know anything about it. He just considered her learning it useful to him. Like she would be able to tell him the new winning lottery numbers.

Her mother on the other hand secretly loved the wizarding world. The one time they'd gone to Diagon Alley without her father she had caught her mother reading a book on memory charms and she had sworn she had seen her mother stop and talk to Mr. Ollivander as if she knew him from somewhere before.

Hermione put on her soft black flip-flops and shook the thoughts from her mind, she'd better go and see what they were arguing about this time. Quietly she slipped down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen where the angry voices were coming from. She could hear her parents' voices clearly even before she had reached the bottom of the staircase.

"I don't know what you're taking about."

"I'm talking about these COINS being in your purse! She hasn't needed to buy anything in the wizarding world for weeks and I told you that I'm not paying for her to go back to that school! If her father has come back then by god let him pay for it!"

"Please don't be like that. She needs to go to Hogwarts. And he doesn't even know she's still alive. I didn't even think he was alive. She knows you as her father! Why are you being this way?"

"Because my dear. I swore when I took you in I would accept the child as my own as long as you would break your wand and leave the wizarding world. But now I find this wand and these books and coins, don't you dare dream of passing them off as belonging to that abomination of yours. She's told me plenty of times that she's not interested in the art of divination or memory charms. So here's the deal. She leaves and you forget about the wizarding world completely. The end. We have no daughter. That man Tom… what was his surname dear…Riddle or whatever his name is can take care of her from now on. I'm through with it!"

"Fine," came the defeated voice of her mother echoing down the hallway to where her daughter stood slightly behind the door to the library.

Hermione's hand tightened on the doorframe, as she stood still, her mind racing so fast in an attempt to comprehend everything that had been said that she almost missed her mother's agreement. As footsteps neared where she stood she flattened herself against the wall while the two adults passed by on their way to bed.

She stood there, her thoughts jumbled for at least an hour until she ran up the stairs to the attic room and tore a piece of parchment to letter size, scribbled something on it and attached it to the leg of the owl that had brought her the post earlier that day. Finally two hours later when no reply had come Hermione gave up and decided to do something that was technically a bit drastic for her. Actually it was almost unknown of her. She was going to go get drunk.

Throwing on a pair of jeans and a tank top Hermione pulled her hair into a loose ponytail at the back of her head before grabbing her wallet and leaving. Ginny had told her about a club in the heart of London once, she'd go there. Once outside the club she charmed her wand into a simple chain necklace with a small diamond on the end and fastened it around her neck as she made her way to the bar.

Unfortunately for her ears it was amateur night at the club and she had a few two many drinks so that when a couple of guys she knew from the library, where they had been doing community service the summer before, asked her to sing a song with their band for fun she agreed. Up on stage she had a moment or two where her mind argued with the reckless nature the alcohol had created. And for once that reckless nature prevailed and Hermione opened her mouth and let the words flow out of her with all the beauty of her voice and power in her. She infused the song with her magic and let the memories and images flow from her soul into the song and into the people listening. At the end of the song as the crowd cheered loudly declaring them the winner of the night Hermione knew what it felt like to be free. She had broken her very first law.

Subliminal messages were illegal in the wizarding world no matter what shape, way or form someone delivered them in. It was a wand breaking offense. But, then again, once her bloodline came out her wand would be broken anyways. They would fear her after all. Voldemort's daughter. They would shun her. Fine then; she didn't care. Before they could harm her in any way she would lay all their secrets bare. It was her right. It was only fair.

The other members of the band circled around her and offered her a spot in the group. Hermione smirked and agreed about two minutes before she used her abilities once more to get a major British label to sign the band and give them a monetary advance on the album they were to record in the next few weeks.

She checked into a nearby motel a few hours later after apparating back at her 'parents' house to get her school items. As her head hit the pillow she decided to find an apartment the next day. But not in London. Never again in London.

After finding a small apartment, the next morning around noon, to lease for the next two months in Edinburgh, Hermione finally let herself relax. She'd been too caught up in being perfect her entire life to realize exactly how tense she was all the time. She realized it two days later when she woke to the phone ringing off the hook. Hermione laughed as she realized how long she had slept. In the past six years she had never had more than four hours of sleep a night and here she was having just slept for two days straight. She honestly felt like she could go back to sleep again for at least two more days. But first the phone did have to be answered.

"Hello?"

"Hermione is that you? We've been trying to reach you for days!"

Hermione let out the breath she didn't even know she had been holding. It was just Matthew. Nothing to worry about.

"Sorry. I've been asleep."

"For two days! Whatever. Look, they want us in the studio tomorrow for at least one song so I am going to go ahead and email you some of our songs so you can memorize them and figure out how you want to sing them. That okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine Matt. See you tomorrow." Hermione smiled as she hung up the phone and walked over to the computer she had purchased the day before when she had been awake and turned it on. While she waited for the machine to go through all it's virus scans she went into the kitchen and started to boil some water for some tea. Humming an empty melody she pulled her hair back into a braid and went into the small pantry to find a tea bag.

Staring blankly at the empty shelves Hermione had a moment of pure confusion until she remembered that when she had laid down she had only meant to nap for a few hours and then go grocery shopping. Biting her lip Hermione went and turned the burner off under the water and sat down at the tiny little table she had bought. No groceries. She had to go get food.

Frustrated, hours later, Hermione arrived back at her tiny apartment with two bags of various foodstuffs and the resolution to eat out as much as possible. Quickly she put up the few perishable items she had bought and left the rest on the counter and went over to the computer to see how much stuff the base player, Joss, had sent her.

Hermione stared at the page the computer was displaying and rolled the words around in her head. Finally, when she was certain she had the lyrics that Joss had written permanently engrained in her memory she closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair sifting for the perfect match. Finally it came to her. Smiling softly she began to weave the images together in her mind until the entire song was accompanied by something almost like a video infused with all the other senses.

Smiling once again to herself she sat back up in the chair and read the second song that Joss had sent her. Once she read the first four lines she knew the perfect combination again. For the rest of the day she sat at the computer weaving the magic to all twelve of the songs that Joss had sent to her. By the time she was done it was once again completely pitch black outside and her eyes felt as if someone had thrown an entire beach full of sand into them. Settling down into her bed her heart raced even as her mind stilled. What she was thinking about doing; what she was doing, was not just breaking a school rule. It was betraying a culture. It was stabbing people that she had come to know and respect in the back. Hermione smiled as the moon peaked out from behind a dark heavy cloud and lit up the smug expression on her beautiful face framed by her dark curls. She couldn't wait to get started officially.

The next morning Hermione grabbed an apple off one of the many fruit stands as she made her way to the recording studio off one of the main cobblestone streets. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The flowers were blooming. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day. Arriving at the square stucco building she felt a wave of apprehension flow over her and she glanced around her covertly until her eyes alighted on the figure of said nervousness.

At the edge of the main road and a small dark alley a woman in a brilliantly violet cloak stood nodding at something someone, or something, in the shadows, said. Hermione shook her head and started up the stairs to the front door. It was none of her business really that the woman was frightened at what she was being told to do. None at all. Hermione grabbed the handle of the door choosing to ignore the mind-numbing lance of blinding fear that shot through her system just before a loud "crack" was heard. It was none of her business. Refusing to turn her head and see if the other party would come out of their hiding place in the shadows Hermione straightened her back, lifted her chin, and walked through the doors to begin the end of the secrets and lies. It was time.


	3. Chapter 3 A New Beginning

**Chapter 3 - A New Beginning**

The shrill whistle of the train sounded as the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station. It was only eight in the morning and it would stay there at the magical depot until eleven that morning. Then it would take the long winding track up to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; carrying with it all the students and a portion of the school's staff.

Really there was no one at the station this early, ever, the conductor thought as he climbed out of the cab. Maybe he would have time to stop off at one of those Muggle restaurants in the station and get some kind of drink before anyone had time to notice his absence. Then again, there was already one girl sitting on the floor with her back to the wall while another was just entering the loading area from the magical passageway to London's train depot. Do drink this time. Oh well, maybe he could sneak some chocolate frogs off the trolley before that monstrasity of a woman got there. He ducked back inside the cab and pushed the button for the two bag loaders at the back that students had arrived and their luggage needed to be stored and then he hurried off in search of the candy laden trolley as the two girls boarded the train.

"Hey Ginny." Hermione said as she lugged her trunk over to the girl who was brushing off her jeans as she stood up.

"Hermione! I've missed you." the red-head said as she leapt into her friend's open arms for a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't write for most of the summer. It's just that...there have been...well...I left home." Ginny said haltingly as she tried to put together what she wanted to say in her head. She laughed. "Sorry. I just...can we talk about it onboard?"

The curly brunette smiled. "Yeah. I have some things I need to tell you too." Her smile disappeared as she contemplated what her friend's reaction could be like. "Good thing we got here before everyone else." She laughed half-heartedly.

"Yea." Ginny agreed as they stepped up onto the train. "We don't have to fight anyone for seats this time."

Quickly they collapsed into the first compartment they came to and for a moment they just stared at each other from the opposite seats before Hermione smartly stood up and locked the door and Ginny performed a Silencing charm on the room. Once again the girls faced each other, each trying to get up the nerve to tell the other news that they themselves weren't sure were good or bad.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Well about a month after we last saw each other I sent you a note but I didn't get a reply."

Ginny swallowed. "I left somewhere around the third week of the holidays. I've been in France. Paris actually. It was really nice."

Hermione smiled. "I've been in Scotland."

"Really? Highlands or Low?"

"Mainly Low. Unfortunately I needed to stay near the border for some business."

"That's too bad. The highlands in summer can be utterly beautiful. And actually comfortable to live in without tons of blankets." Ginny said as she fiddled with the backpack she had brought into the compartment with her. "Hermione?"

"Mm?"

"What would you say if I told you that for the time I was in France I lived as a muggle and had no contact with anyone or anything remotely related to the magical world?" Ginny glanced up and waited as her friend's gaze stayed calmly on her face.

"I'd ask what it was you found out that made you leave your family and the only home you'd ever known in order to try to be something you've never had any experience with before." Hermione said as she watched her friend bite the side of her lip.

Ginny gazed out the window and started to speak. "I was studying at the kitchen table one night when I heard my mum and dad fighting. I'd heard them fighting before, when I was younger, but it's been years since either of them have really raised their voices to one another. They were fighting about me. Mum wanted to tell me something but dad said that I didn't need to know. Eventually they got around to the fact that when Ron was barely a few months old Mum and Dad had been having problems and she had gone out for a drink at the Hogs Head in Hogsmede. There, once inebriated, she started talking to another patron who had a child about Ron's age and his wife was threatening to leave him. Apparently one thing led to another and they ended up sleeping together in one of the rooms above the bar. Mum told dad the next day when she went home and he was angry but he got over it with everything that was happening with You-Know-Who and all. A few months later mum found out she was pregnant from that night. I was the result. Mum and dad split up for a little bit but soon dad realized he couldn't take care of all the boys alone and asked her back. His only condition was that I never know about my parentage. Mum agreed but said he had to treat me like all the others. So life continued."

Ginny turned her glazed over eyes to Hermione. "I had never seen dad so furious. He admitted that if I hadn't looked so much like the others with mum's red hair then he wouldn't have accepted me. Now I know what's driving his hatred towards him though."

"Towards who Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Malfoy."

Hermione's brow furrowed. "I don't understand."

"The drunk man that my mum had an affair with, my biological dad, is Lucius Malfoy."

"Oh my god. Does he know?" Hermione asked stunned.

"Know that I am his daughter?" Ginny asked, "Yes. Know that I now know that fact? No. I don't know if I want to be a part of his life at all. Besides, he's in Azkaban. How would I tell him?"

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "You really lived completely like a muggle didn't you Ginny?"

"Yea, so?" Ginny said, feeling a bit irritated that it should surprise Hermione so much that she could do such a thing.

"The dementors left Azkaban. They deserted it, after they unlocked all the cells setting every single prisoner free of course."

Ginny stared blankly at her friend. "What? When?"

Swallowing the strange lump that seemed to be stuck in her throat, Hermione started to tell the red-head about the article that had been all over the front page of the Daily Prophet the week before, when an extremely loud and angry voice rose above the din that could be heard outside to reverbrate inside the walls of the small compartment.

"Young lady you get back here and apologize to your mother and me this instant! You don't just disappear out into the night and not call or write you little whore!"

Outside the train on the platform hundreds of pairs of eyes were swiftly turned upon the red-faced giant of a muggle and the tiny cowering woman beside him to the object of his anger who'd appeared in the opening next to the compartment entrance from which she had come. After calmly staring at the man for a few eerily silent minutes the girl opened her mouth, "Fuck. You.", and with that being said she stepped inside the compartment. Leaving the stunned crowd to merely stare at the empty spot where the beautiful but strangely rude girl had been standing. Slowly the crowd outside began to get back to the business of hugs and tearful goodbyes, all the while giving the man, and now slightly trembling woman a wide birth. At five to ten there were only a few students left to board the train and the woman bravely placed her hand on her husband's arm. Barely had her fingertips touched the fabric of his coat before the cold concrete of the floor was against her skin and the echo of his slap was left resounding in her abused ears.

A pair of steel grey eyes watched the encounter from the shadows and they narrowed as the man walked off leaving the woman to pick herself up and follow in his wake. He hated men like that, and with that thought still echoing through his mind Draco Malfoy stepped up into the train, without a glance behind him, seconds before the Express took off.

Hermione remained as fake and composed as she had been on the train ride after the confrontation with her stepfather as she stepped off the train and up into one of the waiting carriages. She ignored the beast that pulled it pretending she was just like all the rest of them, never knowing about the magnificent creatures that pulled the carriages. Sitting back against the black velvet seat she watched Ginny fall asleep across from her and then she began to replay the incidents on the train in her mind.

After her mother's husband had yelled at her, Hermione seethed with anger. How dare he act like she had done something wrong! How dare he stand there and yell at her! She remembered how she had beenmanaging to keep her anger under a tight leash for a bit but then once more her control had broken as it had been doing so often lately and she spoke the first thing that came to her mind. "Fuck. You." After watching his face turn practically purple with rage her anger died down a bit and Hermione had been able to unclench the sides of the doorframe long enough to walk into the compartment, where Ginny waited for her, locking the door behind her. She had waved off Ginny's questioning gaze and had continued to tell her about the article that had been the most shocking bit of news all summer long until both of them had fallen prey to the rocking motion of the train and fallen asleep on the seats in the compartment.

A few minutes later unknown to Hermione and Ginny two very annoying some ones had entered the compartment while they slept. A pair of sleet grey eyes slowly traced every detail of Hermione as she laid there sleeping, as if memorizing a forbidden spell. Slowly his eyes roamed over her face, watching the way her hair cascaded over the side of the seat to spill onto the floor, a smile tugged at his lips when he noticed the way her arm was bent so that her gently closed fist was resting softly against her cheek.

Thoughts ran rampant through his mind as he watched her sleep. The first and foremost being that she had changed, a lot. The summer had altered her somehow. The thought that automatically followed, was that it was all wrong. Or maybe it had been wrong before and this was what was right. He just didn't know anymore. For Merlin's sake, he shouldn't be thinking about whether she had changed or not and he definitely, definitely should not be noticing how tight those pants were or how low they rode on her hips or how that little black shirt seemed to be practically molded to her skin. And he really shouldn't be thinking about how kissable she looked right then with her lips slightly parted and all. If only her eyes were open, he thought, like they were right now. Shit. This is not good.

"Malfoy, what the fuck are you doing here? How did you get in here? I locked the bloody door!" Hermione sat up and angrily yelled at the boy now sitting next to her. She tossed her head quickly so she could see without her hair getting in the way of the death glare she sent his way.

Merlin, she's even more beautiful when she's angry. Especially with her hair falling down her back and her eyes flashing like that, Draco thought erratically.

Ginny sat up after Hermione's yelling and she in turn began to yell at Blaize who was casually sitting on the bench next to her. For a full minute Draco and Blaize could think of absolutely no excuse for them having decided to join the girls' in their compartment. Thankfully they were saved from having to make a crappy excuse when the door suddenly opened. But then again it was no where near a blessing; Potty and Weasel walked through the door to stand inside the compartment.

What is it? Asshole day? Thought Hermione and Ginny simultaneously as Harry and Ron entered the room without even knocking.

"Hello. What the fuck?" Hermione asked calmly as she moved her angry gaze from one male to the next so they'd all know they were in deep shit, "I was sleeping here."

Draco, being the complete asshole that he was, merely smirked. At least Harry and Ron had the grace to look ashamed. Both began to stumble out an apology but Hermione had had enough, "Whatever, just get the fuck out", she growled as she slid off the seat and began pushing them out of the compartment.

When they had reached the doorframe Potter managed to find his voice. "Hermione, what are you doing? We're your friends remember? You completely change your appearance and disappear like Ginny and neither of you have responded to a single letter all summer and now you're sharing a compartment with Zabini and Malfoy while shoving us out! What the hell's wrong with you?"

Exasperated beyond words the girl merely shoved her middle finger at the 'boy wonder' and pushed him out the door only to have him and his sidekick fall directly into the path of Professor Snape.

Severus Snape stopped abruptly before stepping upon the two bodies that blocked his path and looked up at the adjacent doorframe only to find a pair of cold brown eyes staring back at him. Smirking slightly he watched as the two boys picked themselves up off the floor, mumbling something about stumbling, before turning his attention back to the girl who was standing so coldly in the doorway only to notice a shock blonde head hovering behind her.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, there you are. I've been looking for you. When we arrive at the castle you need to see the headmaster immediately. Any questions you have regarding your sister can be answered later at her convenience I'm sure." And with that he ignored the four boys whose mouths were hanging open as he walked over to the girl and enveloped the red-head in a hug. "Welcome home." he whispered quietly in her ear. Then just as quickly as he'd come Snape made his way back to the front compartment leaving two softened faces and four stunned ones in his wake.

Thankful to the Professor for the distraction, Ginny used the petrified stances of the boys to close and relock the door with the four of them still standing outside it with their mouths hanging open. Humming to herself she laid back down on the seat where she had been sleeping before as Hermione did the same. After lying there for a few minutes Ginny fell asleep and Hermione stared up at the ceiling. After a few more minutes Hermione turned over on her side and rummaged through her bag on the floor. Finding what she was looking for she re-curled up and let her breath deepen until she was lulled back into a deep sleep.

If anyone had walked in at that moment they would have smiled at the sleeping form of a slightly altered Hermione Granger clutching a wizarding photograph of a dark man tossing a small child up into the air and then catching her in his arms with the biggest smile anyone had ever seen him have on his face. Soon, however, their smile would have turned to an icy fear as they realized that the dark haired man was Tom Riddle, more commonly known as Lord Voldemort, and the child was none other than Hermione herself.

The carriage jolted to a stop and threw Hermione forward into the sleeping form of Ginny, on the seat across from her, jarring her from her thoughts. After reassuring Ginny that everything was alright and that she had just lost her balance Hermione opened the carriage door and hopped outside to find that the threstle pulling their carriage had stopped and was standing still while the other carriages continued on towards the castle until they were out of sight.

Hermione approached the threstle slowly and carefully, not wanting to spook it; but then again, Hermione thought nervously, it wouldn't take much for her appearance to spook every living thing in the world, especially during the night. Her hair was so dark that it almost became the night around her, her clothes disappeared into the cloak of darkness and the pale skin of her face and stomach seemed to be as translucent as a ghost. Breathing slowly and evenly she took the distance one step at a time until she was standing directly beside the threstle. Having managed to approach the creature without it running or balking Hermione reached up and stroked its neck while looking it over.

It appeared to be fine; which meant, Hermione thought, with a shiver of anxiety, it had been told to stop. But she honestly couldn't think of a single person besides herself that could speak to threstles. Swiveling its head around to watch her with it's dark swirling eyes the threstle watched the flash of annoyance flicker across Hermione's face an emitted a shrill noise akin to a purr. She hated not knowing something.

Hermione watched as a carriage coming from the direction of the school rolled along the path towards their own still one. When it had drawn abreast the strange threstle trilled a welcome while Professor McGonagall leapt down from the carriage.

"Ms. Granger, why is your carriage so far behind the others?" Without waiting for an answer she raked her eyes over the threstle, "It appears to be fine." Suddenly the threstle emitted a piercing shrill as if in pain and lifted its foreleg. Quickly Hermione glanced at the threstle as the Professor bent down for a better look, and swore that the threstle winked at her.

"Well then, I'd better send Hagrid back to fetch this one so he can tend its leg before it has to walk any farther." McGonagall said as she straightened up, "Naturally you'll ride back to the castle with me. By the way", she added as she clambored up into the carriage, "the headmaster would like to speak to you Ms. Granger when we arrive."

While the Deputy Headmistress settled into the carriage Hermione went and woke Ginny up again and explained the situation to her. As they climbed up into the working carriage and settled into the seat across from their teacher Hermione couldn't help but feel that the Professor had been stressing her last name both times she'd been addressing her. Hoping she was misunderstanding the reason why she shivered a bit inside her skin before relaxing her body for the long ride to the castle.

The moment the carriage rolled away behind the threstle towards the stables Ginny had a sense of foreboding as she stood in front of the castle. A vision of ruins stood in front of her with wizards and witches she knew and loved amongst the rubble. But as quickly as it had come the vivid vision left and she was alone with Professor McGonagall staring at her impatiently as Hermione disappeared through the doorway, tapping her foot on the elaborate tile just inside the hall. Striding quickly so as not to delay the inevitable any longer, Ginny slipped past the door just as McGonagall was shutting them. Both were so caught up in their own thoughts that neither noticed the two small slivers of stone that separated themselves from the Gryffindor Griffin statue and then crashed to the floor breaking into hundreds of pieces.

By the time Hermione and Ginny had entered the Great Hall everyone had already been sorted and taken to their dormitories. The only thing living in the entire room was Filch's shabby cat, Ms. Norris, who was eyeing the two of them with frank curiosity.

Sighing with a slight hint of annoyance Hermione rubbed a hand over her stomach which rumbled gently in return. She was hungry. She'd been too busy to eat breakfast that morning and then she'd missed lunch on the train. She'd been looking forward to this meal with great relish. Oh well. She'd better skip the idea of going down to the kitchens for a snack and instead head straight for Dumbledore's office.

Hermione turned and headed back down the hall and entered the maze of hallways and byways that it took to get to the headmaster's office while Ginny went ahead and turned down the hall that led towards the dormitories. Finally Hermione stopped in front of the great stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Once it had looked grotesque to her, Hermione thought, but now it looked...was that a meow?

She spun around and searched the dark corridor behind her with her gold eyes shining bright, until they alighted on the figure of Ms. Norris waddling along after her. Hermione smirked and turned back around to face the statue again before whipping back around to face Ms. Norris again. Wait a minute, Hermione thought, waddling? Quickly she gave Ms. Norris a thorough once over; well, well, well. Didn't Ms. Norris look a bit fuller around the stomach and not from catching mice either. Hermione chuckled and waited for the tabby to catch up. Once the cat had drawn alongside her Hermione motioned toward the stone gargoyle "chocolate frogs" and as the staircase appeared she glanced down at the cat "After you mommy" and then stepped up onto the staircase only after Ms. Norris had managed to leap onto the top stair.

She'd thought getting to the headmaster's office had been tedious, Hermione thought as the clock struck yet another quarter hour. She sighed again and re-crossed her ankles. It'd been thirty minutes of her, alone, in Dumbledore's office with only Ms. Norris. Even the pictures of the former headmaster's were empty. Ms. Norris was all she had for company and if she stopped rubbing the cat's stomach the mommy would raise her head languidly while her claws scratched up Hermione's leg. Not that she minded, Hermione thought, it had surprised her really that Ms. Norris would allow her to pet her and then when she had felt the kittens move it had produced excitement and then something else...a longing?

She shook her head gently and picked up her new, awkward burden. It had been a long day and was now proving to be an even longer night. She turned towards the entryway and just as she reached to grasp the handle, the door opened to reveal the headmaster, in torn and dirt-stained robes, entering the room.

"Ah, Ms. Granger. I did not expect to have found you actually waiting this long", he said as he walked over to his desk.

"Well, sir, Professor McGonagall made it sound really important," the girl said as she stepped back towards the chair she had so recently vacated and sat down with the now sleeping cat on her lap.

"We need to discuss a few things for this year but seeing as how it's so late in the evening we'll keep it to the bare minimum, is that alright with you?", at Hermione's nod he continued, "The first thing, and most obvious really, is that I will not tolerate any more songs being written about students that go to this school." There he stopped and leaned his elbows upon his desk while he waited to see if the dark-haired girl would reply. He was not kept waiting long as Hermione had already figured out that he, of all people in the wizarding world, would know what she had been doing over the summer.

"Well seeing as how I do not write the lyrics I can easily agree to your request. All I do is sing what the words make me feel. And there is no crime in that." she replied. The headmaster's eyes barely widened as he nodded and opened his mouth to continue along with other matters that he deemed important.

Bored, Hermione let out an exaggerated yawn and bit down a smile, as the Headmaster glanced up at the clock and grudgingly agreed that it was late and that they would continue the conversation at a later date.

Doing her best to appear grateful Hermione nodded as she scooped up Ms. Norris and began to run as fast as she could, without jarring her burden awake, towards the prefect's common room. When she reached the portrait she stopped and stared, almost forgetting about the need she felt to be completely alone. This was a portrait like none other she'd ever seen. Almost all the portraits in the school contained people who had already died. But here in this scenic picture were small replicas of her and all the other prefects.

"Hello," said the miniature version of Ginny, "can you tell us the password?"

"Or else we can't let you in." added the miniature of herself.

Oh, Merlin, thought Hermione, he told me right before I left, what was it? "Unity", she guessed quickly and when the portrait swung open she heaved a sigh of relief. It was one minute to midnight exactly and it would have been a pain to have to stand there all night.

Slowly she trudged up the stairs towards the girl's dormitory, fatigue beginning to envelop her as she found the empty alcove with her trunk waiting at the foot of the bed. I'll decorate tomorrow, she thought as she looked at all the snow white furnishings. Gently she laid Ms. Norris down at the foot of the bed and stripped down to her cami and matching thong before sliding under the sheets. Just as her breath was evening out and she was falling asleep she felt something curl up next to her on the opposite pillow. Glancing over through her slitted eyes Hermione found that Ms. Norris had moved to an apparently more comfortable position on the other side of the bed. Hermione smiled softly as her mind drifted into complete and utter darkness.

Meanwhile, in the dungeon common room of the Slytherin house, another figure sat still awake at one of the tables putting the finishing touches on a rather long piece of parchment. A dark haired boy entered the cold room with an eagle owl on his arm.

"Did you finish it yet?"

The blonde nodded as he rolled up the long parchment. "Just now."

The other boy sat down and looked at him piercingly with his blue eyes, "So when do you think he'll respond?"

"Oh, father will respond immediately. We might as well stay awake." Draco said as he tied the letter to the owl's leg and watched as Blaize took the bird to the open window and released him into the night air.

Blaize took a seat in one of the gilded hunter green chairs near his friend and propped his feet up on the table near them. "So do you think Snape was telling the truth? That the red-head is your sister?"

"It would explain a few things." Draco said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Like what?" Blaize asked with a smirk as if he knew some of the things that the blonde was about to list.

"Like how she is the only one in her family actually able to do complicated spells decently. Not to mention the fact that she actually has a cunning mind. She really only has two setbacks."

"And what are those?" Blaize asked as he lazily flicked his wand in the direction of the fireplace and watched as flames erupted and slowly began to leak warmth about the room.

"Well there's her infatuation with Potter."

Blaize shook his head, "She didn't appear too happy to see him on the train earlier though Draco. Maybe it was just a fleeting thing of being star struck."

"True," Draco said inclining his head a bit. "True. But she still hangs out with that mudblood bookworm all the time."

"Oh come on now Draco." Blaize said, sitting forward a bit in his chair begging the flames to warm up the cold room faster. "It's just you and me right now and we both know that the only reason you dislike Hermione Granger is because of three things. One: she befriended Potter and not you. Two: she was sorted into Gryffindor. And Three: she manages to beat you in every class except Potions by a few measly points and that really irritates you."

"Alright fine. But she's still just a mudblood." Draco said with a snarl.

Blaize nodded, "But let's just say that the world changed and she wasn't. Let's say she's pureblood and sorted into Slytherin. Would you still hate her?"

"But she's not a pureblood so this entire line of questioning is pointless." Draco said after a minute of silence when he heard the flapping of wings coming near the open window. "Ahh, it appears that your owl is back Blaize. Hold him while I get father's response. I do believe it is time for some questions to be answered."

Blaize eyed the thick roll of parchment. "And some instructions if I am not mistaken."

"Please," Draco said with a sneer in his voice as Blaize let the owl fly outside to the owlrey. "When has either of our fathers ever written something or spoken to us without managing to insert some sort of instructions?"

Blaize laughed, the sound hollow, as he sat back down in the chair next to his friend who was blanching at the length of the parchment as he unrolled it.

"Dear Merlin, it's the length of one of Snape's assignments."

"Well get on with it." Blaize said impatiently.

"Hold on," the blonde said as he re-read the three foot length of parchment. "Alright, here is the gist, since according to this, we are not to be given any details until we visit for the winter holidays. "Yes, Ginny Weasley is my half-sister. Snape was right. We are not to mention any of this to my mother. We are to be nice, or as nice as we can be, to Hermione Granger as not all is as it seems. And somehow we are to bring them back with us to the manor for the holidays."

"Oh," Blaize said slinking down a bit in his chair. "Is that all? Wouldn't he like us to also capture the gilded girdle of an amazon queen while we are at it?"

Draco eyed his friend warily, "Father may be making outlandish demands but there might be something to it. In fact I think I'll ask Snape about doing a certain potion soon. It may clear up a few things."

"It's too late for me to attempt to follow the line of your thinking. Let's go grab a few hours of sleep."

"Sure. But I am still talking to Snape in the morning."

"Whatever."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4. A Day of Surprises**

"Rise and shine you two! Breakfast is over in less than half an hour." Hannah sang out as she tied back the curtains that were hiding the sun from the two girls who were still snuggled down under their covers. The morning sunlight shot through the windows like a bullet and sharply brought the two still sleepy girls awake with a start.

"Go away Hannah, it's too early," mumbled Ginny as she pulled her blanket up over her head to cover even her fiery-red locks from sight.

"Now, now, now. It's the first day of classes. Don't want to be late do you?" asked the blonde as she pulled on her robe over her uniform and walked out the door skipping down the stairwell.

Slowly Ginny gathered her courage and pulled the blanket back down and glanced around the room. Dear Merlin, it was bright. Gradually she sat up and glancing around the room she noticed that all the other beds were empty too, except for the one right next to her where she could barely make out the top of a girl's head. Suddenly a barrage of loud chimes went off and Ginny jumped up in horror. Breakfast! Scrambling into her clothes she noticed that the other girl had sat up as well, revealing herself to be none other than Hermione, and was reaching for her uniform also.

Together Hermione and Ginny sat down across from Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table while grumbling to each other about the lack of empty seats. Even though they scarfed down their food in order to avoid conversation with anyone else, they had barely finished when Professor McGonagall tapped them on the shoulder with their schedules.

Ginny glanced at Hermione's schedule over her shoulder as the Professor moved on down the table, "Hey we've got the same classes!" Hermione glanced at Ginny's schedule to confirm it, "Weird."

Professor McGonagall addressed them as she handed Ron and Harry their schedules, "Ms. Weasley, was advanced a year." she said with a sniff they knew was directed towards them rather than a cold as everyone else thought. Hermione's face stilled at the action but Ginny merely smirked at the Professor's expression.

"Hey! Why am I retaking last year's classes?" an outraged voice shouted from across the table.

"Mr.Weasley, both you and Mr. Potter have been held back a year due to your pitiful performance on your O.W.L.'s in certain subjects. I'm sure you do not need me to remind you of which ones those were." Professor McGonagall said as she headed back towards the front table.

Glancing over at the ever darkening faces of the two boys, who'd just seemed to have noticed the two girl's presence, Hermione and Ginny decided to head off to class, in effect avoiding the confrontation that was sure to come later on.

Just as they reached the double doors to leave Dumbledore's voice echoed from across the hall, "Quiet please, everyone, I have an announcement to make. Tonight after dinner there will be a resorting of the top two grades. That is all." and with that Dumbledore sat down while the stunned silence gave way to a thundering of whispers.

"What could it mean?"

"Do you think people will really change houses?"

Hermione and Ginny stood for a minute and let the information flow over them and then walked out of the Great Hall and down the corridor to their first class.

Together they slid into a front row seat of the potions class still chuckling from the scene played out by Harry and Ron in the Great Hall, although in the back of their minds they were both mulling over what the headmaster had announced. Both were so pre-occupied that neither had noticed that the tables were set for four people to sit at each one. As they began to set up their ingredient boxes next to the cauldrons on the table the room slowly began to fill up until the only seats left open for someone to sit in were the extra two at their table.

Blaize and Draco walked into the room and stalked over to the girl's table. Neither the boys nor the girls looked at each other as they set up everything for class until Ginny nervously let out a giggle. Hermione glanced over at her best friend who had almost made her knock over her ingredients box with that spontaneous giggle, "Gin you okay", she asked. When the crimson haired imp didn't respond she tried again, "What's so funny?"

Ginny couldn't help herself from continuously giggling as she replied, "I was just picturing the looks on Harry and Ron's faces when they hear our last names called out tonight at the re-sorting ceremony."

Blaize and Draco both glanced up at this comment and watched as a strange look came over Hermione's face. "A lot of things will happen this year to cause Harry Potter to make interesting faces Ginny. Trust me on that. The re-sorting ceremony is just the beginning." The two students looked at each other as identical smirks slid across their faces.

Typical of him, Draco's mouth opened with what was to be an insulting question about why the mudblood's name should be of interest to anyone, when he remembered the contents of the letter he had received that morning from his father, and shut his mouth with a snap.

The loud bang of the door slamming back into the wall didn't even faze them as Professor Snape strode in his face marred with both anger and annoyance. Quickly the room went silent and Hermione, who'd been about to explain her last remark to Ginny, hurriedly got out a quill and scribbled a note which she slid across to the boys after Ginny had taken a look and nodded.

_ You pretend we aren't here. We'll pretend you aren't here. Deal?_

Blaize picked up the note first, scanned it, nodded and then passed it to Draco who did the same and pocketed it just as two boys walked dejectedly into the classroom. Snape looked up from the parchment he had been writing on and set down his quill.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley? Just what do you think you are doing in my class? You were not accepted into my N.E.W.T level potions class."

From the red stain that crept up the two boys necks it was evident that they had hoped to escape notice. They shuffled up to the large oak desk and handed Snape a sheet of parchment. Whatever was written on it, of course, no one knew but everyone could tell that it did not sit well with Professor Snape.

Finally he glanced up, "Fine then, but you will sit at that desk over there" and at this he pointed to a desk in the far corner of the room that looked like it had not been used in over fifty years and then he turned to the class as the two boys retreated to the isolated desk, "Mr. Potter, and Mr. Weasley are not here. They are not in this class. You will not speak to them and you will not help them as they attempt to do their remedial class work", he smirked, "so they are nothing, ignore them."

Quickly he tapped the blackboard to the side of his desk with his wand and began to address the class again as writing appeared on the board, "Today you will be brewing a simple spell that acknowledges parenthood and will be providing a vial of it with your name on it for the Ministry's new hall of genetic records. Better yet, this month, you'll be making three potions at once and you will also create, write, and brew a potion of your own creation at this caliber of difficulty. It may be a remake of an older potion whose brewing length has been shortened and it's affect strengthened."

Several students gaped at him with their mouths hanging open.

"First you will need to brew 'The Draught of the Living Dead' then 'Verisatum' and the third is 'Soul Bind'. These are all advanced potions," he added as he noticed most of the class's still open mouths, "and congratulations, you are my N.E.W.T level class. Start with copying down the spells and then you may begin. You will be working in the group of those at the table with you. You will not have all the ingredients that you will need. You are welcome to the pantry behind my desk. Ginny, if you'll please come and collect for your group first."

All sound and movement in the room suddenly ceased after that.

"There's no need Professor, between me, Hermione, Malfoy, and Zabini we have all the ingredients we need." Ginny said as she pulled out a roll of parchment.

Snape nodded and then looked over the frozen class, "Don't you have something to be doing people?" He asked with a growl in his voice, "Did I happen to mention that you will drink these potions yourselves?" The whole room took on a somber note at that statement and quickly got to work.

"Are you sure we have all the ingredients Ginny?" questioned Hermione as she glanced over the potion due that day and the three that followed for the month "There are some really rare ones in these."

Ginny lifted her quill and looked at the doubtful faces of Hermione and Blaize, "Between Malfoy's private stores and mine we will be fine. Trust me."

The fear disappeared from the other two's faces and they all went back to writing down the complicated procedures. The potions were so complex that the four decided to write down the instructions carefully that class period once they had finished the potion that was due that day, and time code it and plan the other three potions out so that they could start them the next day with less chance of mistakes.

Deciding that it would be easier to regulate chores rather than do it all separately the four began the first four steps of the potion carefully making sure that nothing was messed up. Draco lit all the fires under the cauldrons and coaxed the water inside into a gentle boil as Blaize added the two ground up tablespoons of dragons' scale to each of the four cauldrons. Meanwhile Ginny carefully cut up the ginger roots into equal sized lengths for each of the potions while Hermione carefully measured out four droppers of unicorns' blood.

Each then stirred their potion the correct number of turns before adding each new ingredient. After the final thirteen turns counterclockwise the group stopped and watched as the contents of their cauldrons shimmered from a dark grey to a clear see through liquid with the density of glue.

Nodding to themselves they read the last line of instructions and then took a look around the room to see how the others had fared while they waited, letting their potions simmer for the appropriate five minutes, before adding one of their own hairs to it. One table that unfortunately contained Padma Patil, who was quite well known for getting steps mixed up, was trying to put out a fire that had erupted from two of the cauldrons. Another table had noxious fumes spouting from all four cauldrons. However the table of Ravenclaws to their left seemed to be only one step behind them and doing quite well.

Hermione and Ginny had to swallow their laughter when they glanced over at the corner where Ron and Harry had been sent and found that the two had managed to create some kind of bubbly orange goo that was overflowing onto the floor. Draco and Blaize however did not let the fact that they were in class disrupt their need for amusement and laughed out loud drawing the attention of Professor Snape.

"May I ask what is so amusing that you are drawn to laugh during my class?" He asked as he looked down at their perfect potions.

"We were just waiting before adding our hair, Professor and happened to see a flash of orange out of the corner of our eyes." Blaize said innocently.

"And where in my classroom would you be finding the color orange Mr. Zabini?" The Potions master asked unamused.

Draco answered for him, "Over in the corner. At first glance I thought Weasley's hair must have melted but unfortunately it looks to be a bit more than that."

Snape looked over at where the two Gryffindors were now trying to scoop up the orange mess and deposit it back into the now slightly deformed cauldron. "Finish your potions." He directed the rest of the class while he walked over to the now blushing boys and smiled. "A Zero for the day I think. And a weeks's worth of detention for the mess and aggravation." Smirking now he went over to his desk and pulled out a long pale parchment which he then used a spell to stick to the wall next to his desk. "For those of you on the last step, or near it, once you have added your hair bring a vial of your potion here and place a drop on the page next to your name. Then you may clean up and leave."

Draco was still laughing at the murderous expressions on the faces of the two boys over in the corner who were now covered in orange goo while he pulled out a blonde strand of hair and added it to his potion watching it turn a deep silver. Spooning some into one of his vials, he walked over to Snape's desk and placed a single drop next to his name watching as it slithered around into a grey ink and formed the names of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black next to his name. Then the names disappeared and one word remained: Pureblood. He placed the still pretty full vial into the box next to the label of his name and went back to the table getting out his quill to write down the three out of class potions.

Blaize carefully used a pair of scissors to cut off a small section of his dark hair and drop it into the simmering cauldron. Amused he watched as the potion turned to a deep gold before he filled up one of his vials and went up to the board. Hannah Abbot was there before him and he watched as it listed her parents next to her name and then disappear only to be replaced by the word: Pureblood.

Putting a drop of his own potion next to his own name he watched as his father's name appeared and then his birth mother's name wrote itself beside his before turning into the word Pureblood. He scowled. Not many people knew that his mother was unable to have children herself. Her sister had volunteered one of her own eggs and also to carry the baby. Which she did. Until she died birthing him. So his mother and father had never told anyone about that little family secret. It had stayed in the dark. Until now. Everyone would know now. He really should write and tell them during lunch. Otherwise things could get pretty uncomfortable at home when he went back for the holidays. Walking back to the table he saw Draco was almost halfway done copying down the first of the three potions so he turned his quill to the second out of class potion.

Ginny quickly pulled out a few strands of her hair and added it to the mixture watching it turn deep blue before filling up her vial and going to the front of the class. She placed a drop next to her name and watched as Malfoy and her mother's name appeared next to her own in deep blue ink and then reformed itself in the word: Pureblood. Smiling she deposited her vial in the box and went back to the table

Hermione stalled and put up her ingredients box before adding one of her brown curls to the potion turning it a deep green. Filling up one of her vials she slowly made her way up to the board and let the rest of Hannah Abbot's table go before her. Once the last one, Ernie McMillan, had finished, she desperately tried to think of a reason or a way to wait until everyone had left before adding her potion next to her name. Unfortunately Snape noticed how she was dillydallying and came over.

"Come now Ms. Granger it is not that difficult." He said taking the vial from her frozen fingers. "You place the drop next to your name and out comes the names of your parents. Thomas Marvolo Riddle and Annabelle Prewitt...Pureblood..." The entire room stilled as Snape's mouth hung open after reading the two infamous names.

Tears brimming in her eyes, Hermione ran back to the table grabbed her bag and fled the room.

Barely taking the time to make sure that the two Slytherins would write down the instructions and meet them later in the library after dinner, Ginny ran after her friend. Hermione had not been lying when she said a lot had happened over the summer, the red-head thought as she flew down the halls towards the prefects rooms. Pushing a bunch of first years out of the way Ginny got quite a few strange looks as she neared her goal. Reaching the portrait she knew Hermione had been there from the way the miniatures of themselves were acting in the frame.

Hannah and Ernie were whispering and pointing at Hermione who was hiding in a corner of the portrait while she tried to coax her out of it. After acknowledging the password and getting through Ginny wondered exactly how much the portrait selves of them knew about how they felt at every moment of the day. The only explanation to what they had been doing when she arrived was that they knew everything the moment it happened. Creepy.

Ginny took the steps up to the girl's dormitories two at a time and paused at the door for a fraction of a second when she heard the music slipping from underneath the silencing charm. Opening the door the music fell over her in waves and visions and memories flew through her mind at an alarmingly fast rate only to slow down again and flow like a strange liquid of emotions. It was the music she had heard over the summer. The muggle band that somehow knew all about the people in the wizarding world. Of course, Ginny thought, just because they played the muggle circuit didn't mean they were all muggles and on the cover of the cd the girl who sang was always in the back her face in the shadows. But this wasn't one of the songs from the cd. It was different from the others. The words, the rhythm; all of it, was just slightly different.

Hermione heard the door open and immediately shut off the copy of her computer from her apartment that she had spelled up. She wasn't ready to trust anyone with that section of her life right now, especially on top of what had just come out in front of everyone else. Turning around in what she hoped looked like a nonchalant manner she spoke to the person who had entered what had been for a few moments, her domain.

"What do you want?", then noticing it was only Ginny she relaxed, "Sorry Gin, I guess I'm a bit stressed now."

"It's okay." the red-head said as she sat down on the bed next to her. "Life isn't supposed to be easy for us I guess. Besides it would have come out tonight at dinner anyways."

Hermione shrugged, "I guess."

Ginny motioned over to where the ghost of the computer could be seen. "So what was that all about?"

"Nothing really," Hermione said, hedging carefully. She really didn't want to deceive Ginny. She was all she had. "I just like to sing sometimes. It helps me get rid of pent-up emotions before I have to go somewhere so I don't blow up at someone who doesn't deserve it."

"You know over the summer a new muggle band hit it pretty big. The weird thing was that whenever their songs came on I was constantly remembering people here at Hogwarts and things that had happened but it was really weird, sometimes I remembered seeing things that I know I didn't ever see myself." Ginny said carefully gauging her friend's reaction.

Hermione quickly stood up and almost pulled the red-head's arm out of the socket as she pulled her up off the bed and out the door. "We're going to be late for Muggle Studies. Come on."

The next three classes passed quickly enough for the two girls with only the students who had been present in their Potions class giving the pair odd looks. Obviously the rumor mill had not quite gotten up to speed yet. So as it neared the end of the day the two girls relaxed a bit not completely paranoid over an attack from behind however, after the lunch hour was the one class that Hermione and Ginny had been wondering about the most ever since the slip up in Potions, Care of Magickal Creatures with Hagrid.

The red and gold draped Gryffindors approached Hagrid from the right and the green and silver decked Slytherins sauntered over as usual from the left. Hermione and Ginny walked straight down the middle and stopped in front of Hagrid. The Gryffindors glared at them icily and the Slytherin's watched them with open and frank curiosity. It was now quite obvious that their fellow sixth years had been told at lunch about both the incident on the train and the incident from that morning in potions. Hagrid however acted as though nothing was wrong and drew them all towards the paddock back in the front portion of the Forbidden Forest.

"Today I got yeh a back to school present. 'Is name is Norbert. An' e's a dragon. 'Eh Norwedgion Ridgeback to be precise. 'E's only a few years ol' so compared to other dragons e's still young and fairly easy to handle." Hagrid continued to ramble as the students all moved forward save Hermione and Ginny who grabbed hold of Draco and Blaize as they began to walk forward after the rest of the class.

"Don't." Hermione muttered.

"Wait." Added Ginny.

The two boys made as if to voice a rather loud protest at being told what to do but seemed to re-think their objections before settling with their backs against a convenient tree. After all the two girls were Hagrid groopies, they probably knew what was in store and to be completely honest neither had forgotten the letter from Draco's father the night before.

Within a minute Hagrid reappeared with several students looking rather crispy as they started off in the general direction of the castle and obviously Madam Pomfrey.

The two girls grinned at the shocked looks on the two boys faces and walked off back to the school for their next class in good spirits. However, their good mood didn't last long after they stepped into their last class of the day; Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall.

She was already there waiting on them in her feline form as they filed in and took seats in the front row with Draco and Blaize. For two full hours the Professor lectured over what they had done the year before and then as they were leaving she made the announcement they had all been waiting for.

"This year you will be learning how to prefect the art of transfiguration by managing to turn yourself into the one creature you have chosen by the next class period." Having finished with her announcement the Professor bustled out of the classroom and down the corridor towards the Great Hall. It was time for dinner.

Ginny slid onto the bench next to Hermione and waited as the rest of the students filed into the hall. This was it. After this everyone, even the lowest First year, would know. She glanced at the dark-haired girl sitting next to her. She didn't even look worried. Not even fazed by the fact that in about thirty minutes they would be amongst the most hated people in the whole school.

Hermione felt the other girl's eyes on her and automatically knew the reason. Taking Ginny's cold hand into her own clammy one she sat and waited trying to ignore the racing beat of her heart. This night was the beginning. After tonight there was no going back. After tonight nothing would ever be the same.

Up at the main table the Headmaster stood and the entire hall went still.

"Tonight there will be a change. The 6th and 7th year students will be resorted. This has never been done before. So let's not be here at it all night. 7th year students come forward first."

The hat rethought student after student but even at the end of the class only four students had been changed and the biggest move was a girl who went from Hufflepuff to Ravenclaw.

Then the 6th years were called forward and again there were no major changes until Professor McGonagall called out "Malfoy, Ginny" and the auburn haired girl walked forward. The entire Hall stared at the girl now sitting on the stool and then over to the Gryffindor table where her brother Ron was struggling to stand while Harry and Dean held him down in his seat. Barely had the hat touched her hair before it screamed out, "SLYTHERIN!".

Harry and Ron were just recovering from that when they realized that Hermione's name hadn't been called before Ginny's new name was called out. They were discussing it anxiously when Harry's name was called and he went to the stool where the hat was. The moment it was placed on his head he heatedly told it to call out Gryffindor like before, and not to argue this time. So it did and he began to head back to where Ron was waiting when the Professor McGonagall called out, "Prewitt-Riddle, Hermione."

The hat had barely sat on her head before it screamed out Slytherin as it had with Ginny and visibly folded in upon itself away from the turmoil of emotions he had felt inside her mind. He had never felt passion of such severity and depth before. Perhaps shielding her for the first five years of her time here at Hogwarts had not been the best idea. The sorting hat's frayed edges shivered, he had only meant to help heal the houses. Now he had probably broken them apart for all time.

The entire school stared, open-mouthed, as the two former Gryffindors laughed as they walked over to the Slytherin table across the Hall and sat down as if they owned the entire world.

After the last student, ironically, Blaize Zambini, a Slytherin sat under the hat and received a verdict the headmaster stood back up for another announcement.

"Changes have occurred and many I assume have been rather shocking and so I have one more announcement to make while you are already stunned", he paused with a twinkle in his eye to allow a few of the more recovered students to giggle, "say goodbye to the 7th year students. Tomorrow morning will find all 7th year students and their belongings gone from this school for their graduation exam which will be the new format used from now on. They will be gone for the entire year and will not come home for the winter holidays and they will return only at the end of the spring term. When they return they will be unable to talk about where they have been or what they have done. Anyone who attempts to break this rule will be immediately expelled."

Gasps came from every table. No one had ever heard the headmaster's voice turn that hard and unyielding before and no exam had ever taken a class full of students away from Hogwartz for more than a month before. It was unheard of.

Dumbledore continued on amidst the few whispers, "Due to the fact that the head-boy and head-girl are both going to be gone for the full year the teachers and I have decided to replace them here at the school with the two top students who have excelled not only in their class work but also in their extra-curricular activities; behavior towards teachers and fellow students; but also by their strength of character."

Dumbledore stopped and took a sip of water from his goblet before continuing, "The teachers and I chose these two students at the end of last year, however, we have unanimously agreed that these two students are still the best for the job as of this morning. These two students are Draco Malfoy as head-boy and Hermione Riddle as head-girl. All other prefects will remain the same but if they changed houses their prefect status will now go toward their new house. Well then, with no further ado, here's your dinner." Dumbledore practically had to shout the last two sentences over the uproar that had been caused by this head-boy and head-girl announcement.

The food went ignored by the majority of all the tables save the Slytherin table who basically wolfed down their dinner in good cheer. Both the head-boy and the head-girl were now of Slytherin house and the Golden Trio appeared to be officially broken up. All in all, it was a beautiful day.

After dinner Hermione and Ginny practically flew up the stairs to their common room where they fell onto one of the large couches laughing and trying to catch their breath.

"Did you see the looks on their faces?" Ginny gasped out between great big gulps for air.

"I thought for a minute Harry had swallowed his tongue." Hermione laughed out loud and turned towards the entrance as the Portrait swung open and then expelled a breath of irritation as it opened the last bit to reveal a certain pale blonde and a mischevious looking burnette.

"Well, well, well. Don't we have some explaining to do." Blaize drawled as the girls continued to stare at them.

Continued in Chapter 5


End file.
